Dueling Pianos and Politics
by Nonnie
Summary: Josh meets his match (in more ways than one) in the most unlikely place - a piano bar. But is she everything she claims to be? Chapter 3 is new as of January 29th! Please R&R!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer - I don't own the West Wing Characters, sadly they belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, NBC and blah, blah, blah. The greater crime is that I don't own Brad Whitford either. What a babe. However, I reserve the right to write myself into this story, so I can at least have him for a little while.

Pairings - Josh/OC

Rating - PG

Summary - Josh meets his match (in more ways that one) in the most unlikely place - a piano bar.

A/N - As always, I bow at the feet of my wonderful and terribly creative beta, Bartlegg, who gives me so much inspiration and help and this time, even provided the title of the story!

* * *

"Saaammm," Josh whined loudly, following his best friend into a downtown bar. "What are we doing here?" he asked as the roar of the crowd cheering the dueling pianos tore through his body.

"There's this girl," Sam began to explain.

"There's _always_ 'this' girl," Josh complained. "A couple of weeks ago, it was the hooker."

"She's a call girl," Sam reminded him, "and a law student."

Josh couldn't respond, he was too busy weaving through the sea of bodies dancing to "Johnny Be Good" while attempting to keep up with Sam, who was quickly making his way over to the bar. He waved at a pretty blonde bartender, who grinned when she noticed him, motioning for him to make his way over to her.

"Chelsea," Sam said by way of introduction, slapping Josh on the back, "this is my best friend, Josh."

"Pleasure," Chelsea yelled over the din of the crowd. "Sam's told me a lot about you. What can I get you?"

"I'll have a Corona," Josh answered.

Chelsea turned away from them, winking at Sam as she hurried to retrieve their drinks. She sat Josh's Corona and Sam's Crown and Coke in front of them.

"What do I owe you?" Josh asked.

Chelsea waved her hand dismissively and smiled, "Not a thing, handsome. First one's on me."

Josh laughed and shoved his wallet back into his pants pocket. The two men sat down at the leather and mahogany bar and turned their swiveled chairs in the direction of the pianos.

One of the two players pulled a hand across the keys, much to the delight of the audience. "My friends, my friends," he half spoke, half sang into the microphone, "are you having fun?"

Their fans roared their approval, and the players laughed. "We've come to one of my favorite parts of the evening," he began, melodically tickling the ivories while he spoke.

"And why's that Scott?" the other player asked, adding gently to the melody.

"Because for approximately four minutes, Mikey shuts the hell up!" Scott answered, raising his arms to increase the already overwhelming reaction of the audience.

"That's cold, man, so cold," Mikey responded with a dismayed shake of his head.

Sam and Josh looked at each other and laughed, both thinking to themselves that the banter between the two players reminded them a great deal of their own friendship.

"We've come," Scott began, laughing as several of the women started to catcall him, "hard," he teased, sticking his tongue out and wiggling his eyebrows. "We've come to one of my favorite parts of the evening, you know what it is! Say it with me now! It's time for...."

"Audience participation!" the crowd screamed.

"That's right! Audience participation," Scott said with a nod of his head. "And our victim tonight...." The crowd booed him playfully and he shushed them his hand, continuing, "our victim tonight is...." Scott reached into the fish bowl on top of his piano and dug a small sheet of paper out. "Caroline!"

Caroline's friends jumped out of their seats and began pointing at a gorgeous brunette desperately trying to hide behind the traitors. Two of her friends dragged her out of her chair, much to the delight of the players, who began the familiar, fearful strains of the "Jaws" movie theme.

Mikey stood from his piano and stepped over to the beautiful young woman, who was blushing furiously on stage. Josh found himself immediately entranced by her eyes. As far as they were sitting from the stage, Josh could tell her eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue he'd ever seen.

"How do I know you're really Caroline?" Mikey teased, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think we need to see some ID. What do you think?" he asked the crowd, "Do we need to see some ID?"

The crowd cheered and Caroline reluctantly dug her driver's license out of her back jeans pocket. She handed the card to Mikey, who studied it for a moment.

"Caroline," he began to read, glancing at the nervous young woman. "Relax, we don't reveal your last name or address, Caroline Smith Jones Adams, who resides at 111 South Main Street.." Caroline laughed and he continued. "I'm kidding. Let's see, you were born in 1972, so that would make you..." He flipped the microphone over to her, and she answered, "26."

"Got a boyfriend?" Mikey asked.

"No," she laughed.

"What do you do for a living?" he questioned.

"I'm a lawyer," she answered.

"I'm a lawyer too," Mikey said.

"Really?" she asked curiously.

"No," he answered. "You wanna go home with me tonight?"

"Yes," she answered with a wide grin.

Mikey swallowed hard and his eyes went wide. "Really?" he asked weakly.

"No," she laughed.

The crowd cheered and Mikey feigned anger. "Where's the respect, people?" He grabbed the slip of paper Scott had taken out of the bowl and looked at it. "Your friends," he said emphatically, tilting his head in the direction of Caroline's table, "if you still want me to call them that, have chosen for you to sing....." He showed Caroline the paper and she immediately cringed. "I Say A Little Prayer For You!"

The audience roared and Josh shifted in his chair, captivated by the scene unfolding before him. "Do you know the words to the song, Sweet Caroline?" Scott asked playfully.

"Unfortunately, yes," she sighed.

Mikey handed her the microphone, waving his arms around to stir up the applause of the audience and Scott began the first notes of the song.

Josh felt the entire room closing in around him. All he could see was Caroline on the stage, clad in a bright pink striped top and hip hugging dark jeans. Her chestnut hair fell in soft waves around her face, nearly hiding her still blushing cheeks. The crowd disappeared from his view and his eyes focused only on her.

"_The moment I wake up_," she began singing, "_before I put on my makeup_..."

"_I say a little prayer for you_!" her friends screamed, applauding and yelling in encouragement.

"_While combing my hair now,_" Caroline sang, finally getting into her performance by raking a hand through her shiny locks, "_and wondering what dress to wear now_..."

"_I say a little prayer for you_!" the crowd added, much to Caroline's delight.

She continued singing, and Josh began to wonder why this gorgeous woman on stage wasn't a professional singer instead of a lawyer, because she was incredibly talented, with a bewitching stage presence. There was something about this woman, something more than her beauty, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, but whatever "it" was - Josh simply couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

TBC.....


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer - I don't own the West Wing Characters, sadly they belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, NBC and blah, blah, blah. The greater crime is that I don't own Brad Whitford either. What a babe. However, I reserve the right to write myself into this story, so I can at least have him for a little while.

Pairings - Josh/OC

Rating - PG

Summary - Josh meets his match (in more ways that one) in the most unlikely place - a piano bar.

* * *

Her song mercifully over, Caroline McTerin eased her way through the crowd, accepting the praise of those who applauded her and whooped as she passed them, silently vowing to somehow, some way exact her revenge on her so-called friends. She laughed as she passed a group of fraternity boys, who bowed playfully to her. She stepped up to the edge of the bar, and rested against it.

"The woman of the moment!" Chelsea teased, already having grabbed a bottle of Caroline's favorite beer out of a large tub behind the bar.

"Shut up," Caroline laughed, accepting the Corona from her friend, who then grabbed her arm and whirled her around. She nearly fell into the lap of man whose face she immediately recognized. They'd met, if you could call it that, just once, many, many months before.

"That's Josh," Chelsea said, struggling to be heard over to roar of the audience, "Now that you're practically sitting in his lap, I thought you should know his name."

Oh, she knew his name all right. Josh Lyman, Deputy White House Chief of Staff. Dear Lord in heaven, she thought, as she righted herself again, it's really him.

"And this," Chelsea said, flirtatiously draping her arm over Sam's shoulder, "is Sam."

"Ah," Caroline replied, recognizing the name of the man her roommate had been talking about for over a week.

"Sam Seaborn," Chelsea clarified, patting Sam on the back.

"White House Deputy Communications Director," Caroline said, extending her hand to him.

"I think you have a fan," Josh teased.

Sam shook Caroline's hand, and then stood from his chair, offering it to her. "I've got to..." he said, pointing in the general direction of the restrooms, "Keep my seat warm for me?"

"Sure," Caroline answered, fighting a nagging wave of anticipation slowly building in her gut. She climbed onto the high stool and took a swig of her beer. Her heart beat furiously in her chest. She was sitting right next to...

"Josh Lyman," he said, leaning over slightly to make himself heard, interrupting her thought.

"I know," she answered with a nod.

Josh smiled - a wide, toothy grin that made him look like a little boy and left her weak in the knees. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"We have actually," Caroline said with an embarrassed laugh, knowing full well the brilliant politician sitting opposite her certainly wouldn't remember a lowly campaign volunteer he'd briefly shaken hands with as their respective candidates unexpectedly passed each other on the street.

"That's not possible," he replied, somewhat startled by her answer. "I forget a lot of things, just ask my boss. But I don't make it a habit to forget incredibly beautiful women."

"Super Tuesday," she explained sheepishly, blushing at his compliment, "Ohio."

His brow furrowed in confusion and he shook his head. "You worked for Bartlet?"

"No," she answered.

"Hoynes?" he questioned.

"No," she replied, hoping she wouldn't really have to give him an honest answer. She was proud of the work she'd done on the Presidential campaign, she truly was, but she had also developed a bit of a crush on Joshua Lyman that day, demanding of her friends any and all information they knew about him. There was something about him - something she'd never quite been able to put her finger on - something about the power he wielded mixed with a boyish, playful charm.

"Caroline," he said with another mega-watt grin, "believe me, the only way I could not have noticed _you_ was if you worked for..."

As his last sentence began to trail off, Caroline could almost see the lightbulb going on over Josh's head.

"For who?" she asked innocently.

"Collins," he said, his eyes wide with shock. "You're a Republican."

"Yep," she conceded with a nod, "card carrying member."

"Holy crap," was his only response. She watched him as he stared at his beer bottle for a moment, absent mindedly spinning it on the bar while the wheels in his brain processed this new information. "So," he said after a few moments, "how do you know Chelsea?"

"She's my roommate," Caroline explained, happy to have had the subject changed, "we met at Georgetown."

"Undergrad or law school?"

"Law school," she answered, after taking a quick sip of her beer. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she didn't want her being a Republican and him being a Democrat to end their conversation.

"Where'd you go to college?" he asked.

"Harvard," she answered with a smile, knowing full-well he'd gone there as well.

"Me too," he laughed, resting his arm on the bar and turning his body in towards hers. "Did you ever have Professor Kaufman?"

"Professor Cough-it-up-already?" she said with an eye roll, then lifted her beer bottle in salute. "Yes, I'm a proud survivor of Kaufman's U.S. Government class."

Josh clinked his bottle against hers. "A fellow veteran, glad to make your acquaintance, Miss Caroline Smith Jones Adams."

"McTerin," she corrected him, offering her hand. "Caroline McTerin."

TBC....


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - I don't own the West Wing Characters, sadly they belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, NBC and blah, blah, blah. The greater crime is that I don't own Brad Whitford either. What a babe. However, I reserve the right to write myself into this story, so I can at least have him for a little while.

Pairings - Josh/OC

Rating - PG

Summary - Josh meets his match, in more ways than one, in the most unlikely place - a piano bar. But is she everything she claims to be?

* * *

They talked for hours, neither aware that at some point during the evening, Sam had slipped out the door with Chelsea when her shift at the bar ended. They'd covered a wide variety of topics - the professors they'd had at Harvard, where they hung out in Cambridge, why each had chosen law, and told the story of how they'd come to work on the most recent Presidential campaign.

"Josh?" Caroline asked sheepishly, "do you want to maybe..."

She was nervous, and he found it completely adorable. Truth be told, there was nothing about this woman that didn't completely entrance him. He was totally bewitched by her, utterly enraptured, even if she was a Republican.

"Go someplace quieter and talk?" he finished for her, tossing a wad of bills onto the counter and quickly catching the bartender's attention. "Yes."

Caroline smiled and slipped off the chair, reaching into her back pocket for her credit card. Josh held out a hand to stop her, "Please, let me do this." He wanted to tell her that he could talk to her for hours. He wanted to tell her how amazing he thought she was, but he didn't.

She nod in agreement, allowing him to place his hand on the small of her back as he guided them out of the still crowded bar. They stepped out into the crisp April night, and Josh noticed Caroline shiver. Without a word, he shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

She smiled appreciatively at him. "But you'll be cold now," she chided.

"I'm from Connecticut, Caroline, this isn't cold to me," he teased.

"Well," she laughed, "I'm from Georgia, and let me tell you, this is the like the dead middle of winter in Savannah."

Josh shoved his hands into his pants pockets as they began to walk. "So, is Chelsea a...", he began to ask, but found himself reluctant to finish his question.

Caroline laughed, a sound he was quickly coming to delight in. "Re-pub-li-can," she said slowly, taunting him. "You can say it, Josh. It's not a bad word. It won't hurt you."

He stepped away from her playfully and stopped. She spun around to face him, a wide smile set on her face. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"Waiting," he answered, tilting his face up toward the clear night sky.

"For what?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Lightning to strike you down," he joked.

She gently slugged his arm, and Josh rubbed the spot where her arm had connected, mouthing "Ow."

"No, in answer to your question," she said as they began walking again. "Sadly, I haven't been able to bring Chelsea to the other side yet."

"Sam will be thrilled to hear that."

"Matter of fact," Caroline said with a laugh, "the morning after the election, I woke up to find my entire bedroom wallpapered in 'Bartlet for America' signs. God, there had to be 500 of those damn signs."

Josh stopped walking again and feigned annoyance. "_That's_ were they went? I spent _hours_ looking for those signs. If only I'd known they were in your bedroom..." He let the last part trail off, unsure of whether or not he should really finish the thought aloud.

"You'd what?" she sweetly demanded.

"I'd..." God, she was beautiful, he thought. They'd stopped right below a street lamp, and she was bathed in soft light, casting a shimmer of gold over her chestnut hair. In his life, he'd never wanted anything more than he wanted to kiss Caroline McTerin.

"Josh?" she asked quietly.

He'd known her eyes were blue the moment he saw her, but with the glow from the light above, they shone like sapphires. "Yeah?"

"You okay?" she questioned, reaching out and resting a hand on his arm.

He took her hand in his, marveling at how small her fingers looked, now intertwined with his. "I am unbelieveably okay," he finally answered.

* * *

Josh woke the next morning in near agonizing pain. Every bone and muscle in his body seemed to ache. There was a terrible crick in his neck, he had no feeling in his right arm, and there was on odd weight on his chest. His eyes opened slowly, blinking to focus on his surroundings. 

"This isn't my apartment," he thought, quickly scanning the room. The reason his arm was tingling suddenly shifted in her sleep. His memories finally caught up with his brain and Josh smiled, resting back onto the soft taupe chenille of Caroline's couch.

Caroline snuggled deeper into his embrace, securing her arm around his waist and sighing as she began to wake.

"Good morning," he whispered into her hair, inhaling thelingering scent of her vanilla shampoo.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed, nearly leaping out of his arms to the other side of the couch. Her long, dark hair had been mussed throughout the night by his shirt and a tiny bit of mascara had seeped into the corner of her eye, but Josh still thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen - even if she did look terrified that she'd just slept with a Democrat.

"Caroline," he grinned, "relax, we just fell asleep talking."

She eyed him suspiciously as he started to stretch. A muscle caught in his neck and Josh cried out in pain. "Are you okay?" she asked, leaning in towards him, her eyes wide with worry.

He brought a hand up to his neck and began rubbing. "I'm fine, I've just got a..."

"Here," she said gently, "let me." He scooted up on the couch and she moved in behind him, massaging his neck and shoulders with the perfect amount of pressure.

He melted into her touch, his muscles immediately relaxing under her fingertips. "Wow," he sighed, closing his eyes as she worked out the kink in his neck. "You are incredibly good at this."

"Thank you." He could hear the smile in her voice and it thrilled him beyond belief.

He tilted his head back to continue complimenting her, but found his lips only millimeters from hers. Her hands ceased their kneading and came to rest on his shoulders. Josh brought one hand up, tracing her cheek with his fingertip. She closed her eyes and sighed at the sensation. Slowly, gently, he wound his fingers through her hair, guiding her lips down to his own.

When he finally kissed her, it was the sweetest, lightest, softest, most amazing and most passionate kiss he'd ever experienced. He pulled away, reluctantly, and placed a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose. "If I didn't know better," he said quietly, his hand still tangled in her hair, "I'd think we slept until the Fourth of July."

Caroline smiled, and tucked her head into his. "Those were some pretty incredible fireworks, Mr. Lyman."

"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to kiss you?" he laughed.

Caroline's blue eyes sparkled, leaving Josh completely breathless. "Probably not as long as I've wanted you to."

"Can I do it again?" he asked playfully as he shifted his body so that he could lie down on the couch. He grabbed Caroline around the waist, and brought her down on top of him.

"You're adorable," she giggled, stretching over him and propping her elbow on his chest, "you know that?"

"I do, actually," he teased as she skillfully dodged his kisses.

"And so humble," she shot back, bringing her lips down on his again - just as the front door opened.

"JOSH!" Sam exclaimed from the doorway, gaping at his best friend and his girlfriend's roommate in a rather compromising position on the couch.

"Good morning, Sam," Josh said happily, wrapping his arms around Caroline's waist to prevent her escape. "Caroline and I just woke up." She buried her face in his shoulder and he felt her face tense through the thin fabric of his dress shirt. He wasn't sure if she was about to laugh - or cry.

"I can see that," Sam stammered, glancing down at Chelsea, who was trying desperately to swallow a huge grin. "A little help here," he pleaded.

Chelsea ducked under his arm and made her way into the apartment. "They look like they're doing just fine to me." Chelsea flipped the light on in the kitchen and took a skillet out of the cabinet. "Breakfast, anybody?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure."

"No." Josh and Sam answered simultaneously.

"We can't," Sam began to explain, his eyes still wide with shock. "We have a meeting."

"Since when?" Josh demanded. He'd checked with Donna right before leaving the office. For the first Saturday in a long time, his schedule was clear, and after last night, he had every intention to spend it with Caroline McTerin.

"Since now," Sam answered. He crossed the living room in three quick steps, grabbing Josh's shoes off the floor.

Caroline pulled away from Josh and brought her legs up to her chest, taking a deep breath. Josh sat up and placed his hand on her leg. He glared at Sam, then turned his attention back to Caroline. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, then brought his lips up to her ear. "I'm going to go take this stupid meeting, kill Sam, and then I'd like to take you to dinner tonight," he whispered.

She nod her approval and smiled softly. Josh kissed her gently, then placed another light kiss on her forehead as he stood. He yanked his shoes out of Sam's hand and turned toward the kitchen. "Chelsea, it was nice meeting you. I will hopefully see you this evening when I come pick up Caroline."

Chelsea was grinning like a Cheshire cat and only waved her fingers at him. He followed Sam out the door and shut it behind him, pausing in the hallway to put his shoes on. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"Are you nuts?" Sam countered, shaking his head incredulously.

"I was wondering the same damn thing about you!" Josh yelled back.

"Do you have any idea who that girl is?" Sam asked forcefully.

"Caroline McTerin, 26, graduate of Harvard and Georgetown Law School, clerks for Justice Bremen at the Courts," Josh rattled off.

"And?"

"And what?" Josh laughed. "So, she's a Republican, big deal."

Sam's eyes went wide again and he ran a hand through his hair. "Big deal? 'Big deal', he says." He laughed nervously. "She's not JUST a Republican, Josh."

"What do you mean 'she's not just a Republican'?" Josh questioned.

"You're the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh," Sam bellowed as the two made their way to Sam's car, "You can't date Caroline McTerin!"

"Why the hell not?" Josh argued. "She's beautiful, she's incredibly intelligent, she likes me..."

"You can't date the niece of the Senate Majority Leader, Josh."

"WHAT?" Josh screeched.

"She's Arnold Vinick's niece, Josh," Sam explained angrily, "or didn't she get around to telling you that?"

TBC....


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer - I don't own the West Wing Characters, sadly they belong to Aaron Sorkin, John Wells, NBC and blah, blah, blah. The greater crime is that I don't own Brad Whitford either. What a babe. However, I reserve the right to write myself into this story, so I can at least have him for a little while.

Pairings - Josh/OC

Rating - PG

Summary - Josh meets his match, in more ways than one, in the most unlikely place - a piano bar. But is she everything she claims to be?

* * *

Josharrived at Chelsea and Caroline's doorstep promptly at seven o'clock. He was dressed as casually as he was going to get for his first real date with the woman he'd been fantasizing about continuously. He'd argued with Sam all day - finally walking away when he realized he was about to slug his best friend. It didn't matter to him that Caroline was a Republican. It didn't matter to him that she was Arnold Vinick's niece. All that mattered was the way he felt when he was with her - like he could do anything.

Josh took a deep breath and knocked on the door, preparing himself for how gorgeous he knew Caroline would look when she opened the door. But nothing prepared him for what finally did greet him on the other side of the heavy oak door.

"What are you doing here?" Chelsea asked, swiping at her tear stained face with a kleenex before blowing her nose.

His eyes went wide. "I have a date with Caroline?" he said his voice an octave higher than normal and oblivious to the fact that his statement had come out sounding much more like a question.

"Yeah," Chelsea said, shaking her head softly, "but we both thought..." She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before opening the door wide. "Come in."

The apartment was dark as he followed Chelsea inside. He stood near the wall of bookcases closest to the door, completely unsure about what was going on around him. When he'd left the apartment that morning, he had a date with Caroline - and he was pretty sure the living room had been clean. Just a few hours later, he was watching, completely perplexed, as the light from the television illuminated her pajama clad, sleeping form. Strewn around her, and the empty spot on the couch he assumed Chelsea had occupied before answering the door, was a landscape of various Chinese food containers and small empty quarts of ice cream, dotted with the randomly disposed kleenex.

Chelsea bent down beside Caroline and gently shook her shoulder. "Carrie, honey, wake up. Josh is here."

"That's not funny, Chel," Caroline said, her voice both congested and tired.

"You're right it's not, but he is really is here and you look like hell." Caroline bolted upright at Chelsea's words, staring at Josh with wide eyes. He grinned and waved sheepishly at her.

"Oh my God," Caroline said, blinking twice in slow succession and then running a hand through the hair that had escaped from her loose ponytail. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Why do you two keep asking me that?" he asked curiously, crossing over to where she sat, still staring at him like he was a ghost. He knelt down on one knee in front of her. "We had a date, remember?"

"You can't..." she answered, shaking her head in disbelief while her face registered simple horror, "I'll be...right back..." she said, bolting past him and slamming the bathroom door shut.

"Somebody want to fill me the hell in?" Josh demanded, glaring at Chelsea.

"Well," Chelsea shrugged, "I broke up with that loser jackass you call a friend, and we both just assumed that after Sam told you about the Senator, you wouldn't be back."

"You broke up with Sam?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Of course I broke up with him!" Chelsea exclaimed, stalking into the kitchen and retrieving a small trash can. She began picking up the living room as she continued to rant. "Do you have any idea how many guys have found out that she's the Senator's niece and all of a sudden found her way more interesting than they did five minutes earlier? I told Sam because I knew Carrie wouldn't tell you. I told him because I love her and I like you, and I've never seen her look at anybody the way she looks at you. I didn't tell him so that he could forbid you to see her."

Josh cringed and turned his face toward the ceiling. "_Please_ tell me she didn't hear our argument this morning."

Chelsea glared at him. "Josh, the whole freakin' neighborhood heard you and Sam arguing."

"So, that's why you two have been drowning your sorrows in Hagen Daas and Kung Pow Chicken?" he asked weakly.

She rolled her eyes. "I see you're the smart one."

Josh stepped over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. "Caroline, sweetheart, can you come out here for a minute?"

"Yeah," she said weakly from the other side of the door. "Just...just...hold on."

He leaned against the doorframe. His mother and sister had taught him many lessons, one of which was not to rush women when they were in the bathroom. He could hear the water running and decided to wait patiently for Caroline to emerge. When she finally did, she looked up at him with eyes still rimmed in red from hours of crying. She'd pulled her hair back into a ponytail and was tugging nervously at the hem of her white v-neck t-shirt while biting her bottom lip.

"You know," he began with a grin, "I spent all day imagining what you'd be wearing when I got here tonight. I'll admit I was kind of hoping for a cute, flirty dress with a tiny little sweater, but this," he said, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling playfully at the flannel fabric of her pajama pants, "is far sexier than anything I had imagined."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his chest. "You're teasing me."

"I am," he agreed.

"I didn't think you were coming back," she said, her voice no louder than a whisper.

Josh shook his head and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. "Caroline," he said softly, "the President himself couldn't have kept me away."

She relaxed in his embrace and whispered onto his chest, "You're a good guy."

He kissed the top of her head and pulled away to look her in the eyes. "No," he admitted with a shake of his head, "but I always try to be."

Josh cupped her chin with his hand and tilted his head down to kiss her. His lips were just a breath away from hers when Chelsea began to sob. They both turned their heads to look at her.

"That is just..." she cried, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "_You_ are just..."

"Chelsea," Josh laughed.

"Oh fine!" Chelsea said, feigning annoyance with a wave of her hand, "I'm leaving. She breezed past them on her way to her bedroom. "Carry on."

Josh turned his attention back to Caroline, his hand still cupping her chin. "Where were we?" he asked, lowering his lips onto hers again.

"Right about here," she answered, her fingers latching onto the soft fabric of his sweater as he kissed her. They stumbled back toward the couch as the kiss deepened and Josh turned them at the last minute, so that he fell onto the sofa first, groaning in pain as they landed.

"Josh?" she asked, her tone tinged with worry.

"I don't think your couch likes me," he complained, reaching under his back and coming up with a pair of chopsticks, sending Caroline into a fit of laughter, "this morning I have a kink in my neck and tonight, I've got chopsticks in my back."

She buried her head on his chest as they both laughed. "So," Josh asked, tracing her cheek with his fingertip, "you gonna feed me, or what?"

TBC...


End file.
